Ibracevic Defense Says Detained Srebrenik Civilians Were Members of Military Units
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Ibracevic, the former chief of military security with the municipal headquarters of the Territorial Defense in Srebrenik, has been charged with abusing and torturing Serb civilians in Rapatnica and Luke from June to August 1992. Faruk Smajlovic and Sejdalija Covic, former members of the military police, have been charged with the same crimes.
Sanjin Bandovic, Ibracevic’s defense attorney, presented his opening statement as well as material evidence at today’s hearing. Bandovic presented criminal suits and verdicts passed down by the District Court Martial in Tuzla in 1992. The documentation indicated that injured parties who testified at the trial were sentenced for having been members of the enemy army.
“The defense shall prove that the witnesses mentioned in the indictment were not civilians, but members of the Serbian Territorial Defense,” Bandovic said in his opening statement.
The chamber admitted 23 out of the 117 pieces of evidence proposed by Bandovic. A series of documents from court proceedings, including minutes taken during examinations, as well as indictments, appeals against custody measure orders and verdicts, were rejected. Trial chamber chair Saban Maksumic said these documents were unnecessary, since the verdicts contained the information relevant to the trial.
A proposal to include statements given during a criminal proceeding in Tuzla was also rejected. Maksumic said the injured parties testified in the courtroom, and as such the defense teams already had a chance to examine them.
Defense attorney Bandovic proposed that a number of witnesses be invited to testify on the organization of crisis committees and combat units, as well as the arming of the Serb population in the villages of Brezje and Jasenica.
Prosecutor Zorica Djurdjevic said she didn’t deny the existence of crisis committees, but said the injured parties were civilians at the time of their arrest.
The chamber agreed to invite five witnesses proposed by Bandovic to testify.
Bandovic also presented wartime decisions made by the municipal assembly of Srebrenik and the Territorial Defense.
Bandovic said municipal authorities had not responded to his request to share a decision on the establishment of detention units in Rapatnica and Luke. He asked the court to intervene on his behalf.
The trial will continue on December 15.
